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Torta Ahogada

Torta Ahogada

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This is a savory sandwich made famous in the Mexican State of Jalisco. It is served everywhere in Guadalajara, which is where we ate our first Tortas Ahogada.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Sauce

  • 1/2 cup chopped white or yellow onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 4 Roma tomatoes, cored
  • 5 arbol chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 2 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar

Torta

  • 1 1/2 cups shredded Pork Carnitas
  • 1 long loaf French bread or sourdough baguette
  • 1 cup refried beans
  • 3/4 cup pickled red onions

Garnish

  • Cotija cheese
  • Lime wedges

Instructions

Sauce

  1. Combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, arbol chiles and guajillo chiles in a medium saucepan and fill with water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until tomatoes start to split, about 15 minutes.
  2. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
  3. Using a slotted spoon transfer the vegetables to a blender.
  4. Add oregano, salt, cumin, allspice, pepper and vinegar.
  5. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid from the vegetables and blend on high until smooth.
  6. Pour out remaining cooking liquid from the pan and pour the sauce back into the pan. Cover and keep warm over low heat.

Torta

  1. Heat carnitas in the microwave or in a skillet until hot. Cover and keep warm.
  2. Heat broiler to high.
  3. Cut baguette in half lengthwise and spread beans on one half of the bread. Set on a baking sheet. Place the other half, cut side up, next to it on the baking sheet. Broil until beans are warm and bread is toasted, about 3 to 4 minutes.
  4. Top the beans with the carnitas and onion.
  5. Close sandwich with the other half of the bread. Set on a cutting board and cut into 4 sandwiches.
  6. Set each torta in a shallow dish. Ladle sauce over each sandwich until it is completely covered with lots of sauce in the dish.

Garnish

  1. Garnish with cotija cheese, and squeeze one or two lime wedges over the top.
  2. Serve immediately with plenty of napkins.

Notes

You can either make the carnitas, refried beans and pickled red onions from scratch or buy them at your local Mexican market.

Photo credit: Guanatos Gwyn on Visualhunt